Theresa Soltzberg, MBA, MA, AMFT

Theresa is a Registered Associate Marriage and Family Therapist supervised by Dr. Thomas Lucking. She is trained in a humanistic, holistic approach, which involves partnering with clients in their healing process and including the whole self: body, heart, mind, emotions and soul. Her clinical experience includes community-based agency work and school-based therapy.

Theresa focuses on helping clients heal the story they carry with them, and that often shows up as symptoms of complex PTSD, which can be the result of trauma or neglect from their earliest relationships, PTSD, anxiety, depression, or other psychological symptoms, or as relationship challenges. She completed trauma certification which underscored the understanding that trauma stays in the body and right brain and is therefore healed through imagery, the body and creativity. She incorporates somatic approaches such as Hakomi and Somatic Experiencing into her work as well as a creative, expressive arts approach.

Theresa has a specialty working with Neurodiverse couples. She works under the supervision of Dr. Thomas Lucking, PhD who is a published author, speaker, and expert in the field of Neurodiversity. Theresa supports NT partners who are struggling with OTRS (Ongoing Traumatic Relationship Syndrome). She uses the Island of Shared meaning model that Dr. Lucking created to support ND relationships and partners to bridge the Neurodiverse gap that these relationships struggle with.

Her B.A. degrees are in the visual arts and writing, and she has recently brought both back into her life. She is currently pursuing certification as an Intermodal registered expressive arts therapist (REAT), which includes healing with a variety of expression beyond visual arts such as poetry, sound, movement, drama and mindfulness, as well as visual art. Theresa is a mixed media artist and offers art journaling and mindful art groups to explore expression, healing and the joy of creativity.,

She is also passionate about nature, slowing down, and being in the moment, and she invites clients to also incorporate what they are passionate about and what brings them joy into their lives, since this will support their healing. Her interest and belief in mindfulness is centered on Vipassana mindfulness, and she is currently a student of the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program with Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield.

Theresa is also certified as a level 1 EMDR practitioner to support her trauma healing work. This trauma healing approach helps connect the right and left brain as part of the healing process. She has completed Internal Family Systems (IFS) level 1 and Level 2 training, and also incorporates Voice Dialogue and Jungian dreamwork, archetypal imagery work, and gestalt therapy, which supports holistic growth and healing by bringing together parts of Self.

She supports her therapeutic work with CBT and DBT skills as well as any other modalities that support each client.

Before becoming a therapist, Theresa’s work included life and business coaching and training, and she worked with teams and individuals on work skills, career development, as well as bringing purpose and passion into one’s life. She understands and has supported others in navigating difficult workplace situations, including as a CBT coach, as including with a focus on the challenges of changing careers and finding work that fits. She is an ICF certified ACC-level coach, with MBTI certification, Clifton Strengths, and other career and work-related certifications.

Specialties and Practice Areas:

• PTSD
• Mindfulness
• Life Transitions
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Couples
• Work-related Issues
• Life Purpose

Clients: Adults, Couples, Families, Parents, Teens, Veterans, Groups

Modalities:

• Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS)
• Expressive Arts Therapy
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
• Somatic Experiencing Therapy
• Hakomi
• Self Compassion
• EMDR
• Emotionally Focused Therapy (EMT)
• Experiential Therapy
• Ecotherapy

Locations: Telehealth, Santa Cruz office, Los Gatos office

Theresa is a member of Therapy InMotion